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News Releases

Event Photo Gallery

On Oct. 20, 2012, Stennis employees and guests gathered at the INFINITY Science Center facility for the second annual Stennis Space Center Gala celebration. The celebration featured a program focused on past year achievements, as well as a presentation of the Roy S. Estess Public Service Leadership Award.

The John C. Stennis Space Center Mission Brochure presents facts and information about the history and ongoing work of the NASA facility established in south Mississippi in 1961 to support the American space program. Since that time, Stennis Space Center has grown into a unique federal city and the nation's largest rocket engine test site.

Stennis is...home to America's premier rocket engine test complex, the NASA facility where engines for all manned Apollo and space shuttle flights have been tested and where next-generation engines that will once again carry humans into deep space will be tested.

Stennis Chronology

A chronology of significant events at Stennis Space Center

The B-1/B-2 Test Stand is shown with the A-2 Test Stand in the background during test complex construction at NASA Stennis Space Center in early 1966.

Static firing of an Apollo Program S-II stage on the A-2 Test Stand, Nov. 14, 1969.

The last planned space shuttle main engine test at NASA Stennis Space Center was July 29, 2009. Here, the engine is removed from the A-2 Test Stand on Aug. 17, 2009. Construction on the center’s new A-3 Test Stand can be seen in the background.

A Year of Celebration

March 22, 2011

John C. Stennis Space Center historian Marco Giardino speaks to facility employees during the first "An Hour in History" session March 22. The Stennis History Office launched the series as part of the rocket engine test facility's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration. The inaugural session focused on Stennis history during the early 1960s. Subsequent sessions will focus on other aspects of Stennis history as part of the "50 Years of Powering Dreams" anniversary theme. "An Hour in History" sessions are planned in June, August and October. The 50th anniversary celebration culminates in late October to commemorate NASA's public announcement of plans to build the test facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, on Oct. 25, 1961.

April 5, 2011

A trio of current and former leaders discuss the growth of NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi during a Legends Lecture Series onsite on April 5. Stennis launched the Legends Lecture Series last November as part of a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary. The April 5 session focused on growth of Stennis into a unique federal city during the 1970s and the establishment of NASA's Earth Resources Laboratory at the site. NASA announced plans to build Stennis Space Center as a rocket engine test facility on Oct. 25, 1961. The facility is now home to more than 30 resident agencies, which includes federal, state, academic and private organizations and numerous technology-based companies. Presenters at the April 5 event included (l to r): George Schloegel, mayor of Gulfport; Jack Rogers, former director of NASA Center Operations at Stennis; and Wayne Mooneyhan, former director of NASA's Earth Resources Laboratory at Stennis.

June 2, 2011

Kids crowd an activity table during the 50th Anniversary Open House sponsored by John C. Stennis Space Center on June 2. Various resident agencies provided exhibits and activities for visitors to the rocket engine test facility. Stennis is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of events in 2011. The celebration culminates Oct. 25, the anniversary of the day NASA publicly announced plans to build the south Mississippi facility in 1961. The June 2 open house attracted more than 1,000 visitors from Louisiana and Mississippi.

Astronaut Scott Altman talks with guests during a 50th Anniversary Open House activity at John C. Stennis Space Center on June 2. Stennis hosted the public open house as part of a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary. Originally built to test the massive Saturn V rocket stages that helped carry humans to the moon during the Apollo Program, Stennis has grown into the nation's largest rocket engine test facility and a federal city home to more than 30 resident agencies.

August 3, 2011

Marina Benigno (far right) at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, welcomes former administrative assistants and secretaries to the third Legends Lecture Series session. Lecture participants spoke to Stennis employees about their work experiences with Stennis directors and deputy directors. Panel participants included Janet Austill ( l to r), Mary Lou Matthews, Helen Paul, Wanda Howard, Ann Westendorf and Mary Gene Dick. Austill, Howard and Westendorf all worked with center directors during their Stennis careers. Dick, Matthews and Paul served with deputy directors at Stennis. The Legends Lecture Series was launched last November as part of a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of Stennis Space Center.

October 13, 2011

NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann (right) welcomes former leaders to the final Legends Lecture Series presentation on Oct. 13. Stennis launched the series last November as part of a yearlong 50th anniversary celebration. The final session focused on past rocket engine test work. Visiting Stennis legends were: (l to r) Dave Geiger, former Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne site director; Patrick Mooney, former space shuttle main engine project manager; Boyce Mix, former test and engineering director; J. Stephens Dick, former Systems Engineering Division chief; James Taylor, former propulsion test director and deputy director for operations; and Marvin Carpenter, former deputy director of the Stennis Test & Engineering Directorate.

October 15, 2011

NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann welcomes guests to the 50th Anniversary Gala on Oct. 15. The dinner was a culminating event in Stennis' yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary. NASA publicly announced plans to build the rocket engine test site in south Mississippi on Oct. 25, 1961.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (at podium) speaks to 50th Anniversary Gala guests. The event was attended by more than 300 NASA employees and guests and featured various program presentations and speakers.

October 25, 2011

NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann (right) and Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Chief of Staff James Pettigrew drop the first shovelfuls of dirt on a time capsule to be opened on the rocket engine test facility's 100th anniversary in 2061. Items for the capsule were donated by NASA and other resident agencies at Stennis. The time capsule was buried in front of the Roy S. Estess Building on Oct. 25 as Stennis concluded a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary.

NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann (second from left) stands at the historical marker erected by the state of Mississippi in honor of the 50th anniversary of the NASA facility. The marker recounts the decision to build Stennis in 1961 to test the rocket engines and stages needed to carry humans to the moon. Joining Scheuermann at the Oct. 25 unveiling ceremony were: (l to r) Ron Magee, assistant to the director of the Stennis Center Operations Directorate; Al Watkins, manager of A2Research at Stennis; Tish Williams, executive director of the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce; and Ken P'Pool, deputy state historic preservation officer with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.